Explanation:
Does this strange dark ball look somehow familiar?
If so, that might be because it is our Sun.
In the above image, a
detailed solar view
was captured originally in a
very specific color
of red light, then rendered in black and white, and then color inverted.
Once complete, the resulting image was added to a starfield, then also color inverted.
Visible in the above image of the Sun are
long light filaments, dark active regions,
prominences peeking around the edge, and a
moving carpet
of hot gas.
The surface of our Sun has become a particularly busy place over the
past two years because it is now nearing
Solar Maximum, the time when its surface
magnetic field
is wound up the most.
Besides an active Sun being so picturesque, the
plasma
expelled can also become picturesque when it impacts the
Earth's magnetosphere and creates
auroras.